Michael Sam is caught between a pair of dynamic forces pulling him in opposite directions.
On one side is the NFL and his teammates on the St. Louis Cardinals, who hope the seventh-round draft pick isn’t a distraction as he attempts to earn a roster spot.
On the other side is an army of advocates and activists, who hope the league’s first openly gay player capitalizes on his role and blazes a trail.
The NFL won the first showdown last Friday, when Oprah Winfrey’s TV network put plans for a Sam docu-series on indefinite hold. In a statement, Sam’s agent Cameron Weiss said the postponement “will allow for Michael to have total focus on football, and will ensure no distractions to his teammates.
Everybody involved remains committed to this project and understand its historical importance as well as its positive message,” he said.
We’ll see how long that commitment lasts if Sam doesn’t survive final cuts.
For those who want him to blitz the establishment and mainstream media, that’s the danger in biding time. His place in history is secure, but his relevancy will plummet if he never suits up in the regular season. He can always point to the draft, which should guarantee a decent living as a celebrity spokesman – if nothing else.
But he has to make the team in order to achieve maximum impact for gay rights.
Hope dimmed for the Wizards after Indiana swept Games 3 and 4 at Verizon Center, putting Washington on the brink of elimination.
But then there was light (and another home game tonight).
A bulb came on, especially for John Wall and Marcin Gortat, who scored 31 and 27 points, respectively. The Wizards looked as comfortable as if Bankers Life Fieldhouse was their couch and Game 5 was a rigged NBA PlayStation.
When we had last seen Wall, he was declining to take a wide-open 3-pointer that could’ve tied Game 4 with 50 seconds left on Sunday. At the outset on Tuesday, he didn’t offer convincing evidence of being ready for the moment; he had three assists and three turnovers at the half.
When we had last seen Gortat, he was glued to the bench for the final 14:24 Sunday as Washington blew a 19-point lead. He finished with a measly two points and three rebounds. But his dominant performance to begin Game 5 – 11 points and six rebounds in the first quarter – set the tone for Wall and other teammates the rest of the evening.
The third quarter in this series had been a gaping sinkhole, with the Wizards being outscored by a combined 42 points through the first four games. Coach Randy Wittman joked that his team would stay on the floor during halftime to avoid whatever bug was infecting the locker room.
No matter what happens in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup – which can end tonight in Game 5 against the Indiana Pacers – the Washington Wizards have enjoyed a good year.
A winning record for the first time in six seasons. A playoff-series victory for the first time in nine seasons. And the development of a young backcourt that might rank among the NBA’s best for years to come.
That’s a good season and credit is warranted for everyone involved, from the front office to the coaches to the players.
But no one should be so giddy that this is mistaken for a great season.
Despite the excitement of making the playoffs and beating the Chicago Bulls, Washington has yet to reach championship-caliber status. Likewise, the team’s architect, Ernie Grunfeld, has yet to prove he’s the right person to get the team there.
Many decades from now, folks will look back and ponder the phenomenon known as the NFL. They will marvel at the league’s keen marketing ability and wild success at drawing viewers for any programming related to “the shield.”
Fake games (the preseason). Drills and workouts (the combine). Drawn-out roll calls (the draft). The level of fanaticism is amazing.
Yes, it’s all relative. Fans don’t rip out toilets and hurl them from the stands, striking and killing someone as happened last week during a soccer riot in Brazil. We don’t see the full-scale, mass brawls that erupt between international “football” fans. (Our violence usually is contained to a few spectators in one section or an ugly encounter in the parking lot.)
Historians will apply a rationale for the most-puzzling aspects of the NFL’s popularity. The combine doesn’t have real action, but at least players are running, passing and catching. Exhibition games are meaningless and filled with soon-to-be truck drivers, but fans are starved after a six-month hibernation.
However, the chroniclers won’t have a good explanation for the NFL draft, which begins tonight after months of player analysis, team assessments and multiple mocks.
The three-day event is getting 16 hours of live coverage on ESPN; NFL Network is devoting a whopping 51 hours of live coverage.
I’ll figure out how the pyramids were built before I understand the draft’s TV appeal.
Congress will hold hearings this week on the Northwestern football union case, promising more rampant examples of “college sports” being misused as a one-size-fits-all label.
Actually, the term is equivalent to “professional baseball,” grossly inadequate as a general description.
Sure, young minor leaguers have plenty in common with their major-league counterparts. Except for the charter flights, luxury hotels and roughly $100 per diem. Likewise, student-athletes at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater easily relate to their counterparts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Except for the super-sized athletic budget, enhanced facilities and plusher accommodations.
The disparities within college sports are numerous and enormous in Division I alone, which has 65 power-conference schools and another 218 schools in lower income brackets. The differences grow exponentially when you include Divisions II and III, the majority of 1,100 schools under the NCAA’s umbrella.
There’s no fair way to lump them all together or treat them all the same, not when Texas can spend $1.3 million on its cheerleaders and spirit squad (as it did in 2012-13), while the entire travel budget for Troy’s athletic department was $1.2 million.
However, that cavernous gulf between those realities is just one inequality among dozens that cloud the debate on paying student-athletes.
Philip Gyau has a long road ahead in rebuilding Howard’s men’s soccer program. But that doesn’t mean going to the beach is off-limits. He was there two days before he landed the job and he’ll go back if it can help the team.
“I used some of the training methods from beach soccer with youth teams all the time – and I had players who went on to become national team players,” he told Boxscore News during CONCACAF’s first-ever beach soccer coaching course, at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “It teaches you to control the ball in the air, to gain a close control … the technical skills are certainly very useful.”
Gray, 48, will use every tool at his disposal to lead the Bison back to the national prominence they once enjoyed. The heyday ended before he arrived on campus, but he’s well aware of the history – as is Howard’s interim president Wayne Frederick, team manager when the Bison advanced to the 1988 NCAA title game.
“It’s extremely important to rebuild the soccer team because we have a strong history of success,” Frederick said during Gyau’s introductory press conference. “My first impression of athletics here was one of excellence.”
Gyau was “saddened” to watch Howard drop so far, 1-17-0 last season and ranked dead last among Division I’s 203 teams. “This school game me everything,” he said. “I want to give back.”
It was almost 9 p.m. and Byron Cage was exhausted after serving as the Men’s Day guest psalmist at First Baptist Church of Glenarden’s evening service. He had served at the three morning services, too, and was operating on very little sleep.
“I went to bed at 10 [p.m.] and woke up around one o’clock” says Cage, who needed a guest host for his local Sunday afternoon show on Praise 104.1 FM. “I was so wired about doing ministry today. I like to be sensitive and remain in the spirit, all that kind of stuff.”
Dubbed the “Prince of Praise” by Reverend Dr. Jo Ann Browning, the co-pastor at Ebenezer A.M.E. Church in Fort Washington, Md., Cage and the Men’s Day Chorus treated worshipers to a “well-balanced diet” of music ministry. That was only fitting, considering his success at producing traditional gospel, contemporary gospel, anthems and praise & worship songs.
“I think it’s because I love music and all areas of gospel music, in particular,” he says. “When (FBCG) asked me to direct and prepare the music, I strategically put it together so it wasn’t just one thing, like all quartet or all praise & worship.
“It was a soul food meal, if you will. It had chicken, ham, collard greens, mashed potatoes, dressing, candied yams and sweet tea lemonade. Anybody who wanted something to eat could pull from that plate and that’s what I was trying to do.”
Cage has been doing it since the mid-90s when he and his group, Purpose, released “Dwell Among Us” and “Transparent in Your Presence.” During that time he became minister of praise & worship for Bishop Paul S. Morton and sang lead with the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship Mass Choir on a pair of smash hits, “Shabach” and “Yet Praise Him.”
But a not-so-funny thing happened en route to Cage winning multiple Stellar Awards and a Grammy nomination. After his contract with Atlanta International Records ended, he didn’t record anything else for the next seven years. “I really want to say I was in the desert.”
Potential deals arose but they didn’t make sense spiritually or business-wise. He served as minister of music at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta and later moved to Washington to fill the same position at Ebenezer (where he’s in his 16th year of service). It still was a few years before he recorded “Byron Cage: Live at New Birth Cathedral,” which earned Stellars 2004’s top Male Vocalist, Producer, CD, Contemporary CD and Song (“The Presence of the Lord is Here”).
Regarding the long gap in his career, Cage says “there may have been frustrating days, but there were never doubtful days. I was faithful and just kept quoting Scriptures in my life, saying ‘I don’t know when, but He’s going to turn it around. When ‘Presence of the Lord’ came out, everybody jumped on because they knew I wasn’t a novice or some new person coming along.
“But they also had seen me serve. They saw me be faithful and support everybody else who was hot during that time. I was still going to the concerts and buying CDs. I was still inviting them to New Birth or Ebenezer and funding them to come. So I was always supportive and I think that’s why the Lord honored me.”
More honor was bestowed at the Stellar Awards in January when he was signed by the Inspired People Music label, which is distributed through Motown Gospel. He has begun work on his next album, which is being produced by FBCG’s music/band director Daniel Weatherspoon.
In addition to that project, Cage has been developing TV shows for three years and expects one to air soon. He says rumors that he was leaving gospel music altogether were false. “People thought I was resigning from being minister of music to be in reality TV, and that’s not the truth,” he says. “I create reality shows. Not all of them are faith-based. Although they all have a faith-based answer in the show, it’s not necessarily Christian TV.
“I just believe in becoming all things to all people so we can win them and be the light – even if we go into a dark place. The first show will come out in 2014 and the others won’t be until 2015.”
Meanwhile, Cage will continue to ride his Harley and play as much golf as possible – his two main forms of relaxation. And he’ll continue to make music that aims to “glorify God and point the listener to Christ.”
ATLANTA – The 2014 HBCU Lacrosse National Tournament was held April 6 at Morehouse College. The four-game tournament was for this year’s bragging rights among the nation’s four Historically Black Colleges & Universities that field men’s club lacrosse programs.
In the championship match, Howard University rallied to defeat Morgan State University, 6-5. The Bison trailed, 4-2, at halftime but tightened their defense after the break. The second half featured rain and a field with scattered puddles full of pollen, which made for challenging, yet exciting, lacrosse.
The Bears fought hard and won most of the ground balls due to the Bison’s multiple passes that were missed or dropped. But Howard was relentless in its position defense and played with confidence in its offensive sets, producing four second-goals to dethrone the 2013 HBCU national champions.
The rivalries at B.T. Harvey Stadium was so thick and the competition so fierce, fans might have thought teams wouldn’t shake hands afterward. But the handshakes took place, as did the traditional photo featuring the teams that had just battled.
The tournament began with Howard taking on Morehouse. Hard hitting resulted in several game stoppages due to injury and a bench-clearing “almost brawl.” With high energy brewed from early-season trash talk and tempers flaring throughout the contest, offensive technical prowess was at a minimum, but the physicality of lacrosse was pushed to the limit.
There were several ties until Bison captain Chris Ard ripped a bounce shot with about 90 seconds remaining to give Howard a 7-6 victory.
In the other semifinal, Morgan State jumped to an early lead against Hampton University and cruised to a 12-4 win.
Hampton beat Morehouse in the third-place game, 8-6.
If Philip Gyau’s bloodlines are any indication, Howard’s men’s soccer team will receive a a program-saving transfusion.
His father was a member of Ghana’s 1964 Olympic team and played in NASL. Gyau has a son and daughter (Joseph and Mia) who are members of U.S. national program. Gyau himself starred at Howard in the ‘80s and went to earn six caps for the U.S. team and play for several pro teams before coaching with the U.S. beach team and a Bethesda youth program.
Who better to revive a once-proud soccer program that has almost flat-lined? The Bison finished 1-17 last season, the sixth and final losing campaign under Michael Lawrence, who was relieved of his duties in December.
Gyau arrived at Howard a decade after the Bison shocked college soccer by winning the national championship in 1971 and 1974. The NCAA stripped Howard of its 1971 title in a controversial ruling that many claim was fueled by racism, but it couldn’t tarnish the feat three years later.
“Winning the championship in 1974 brought some catharsis and sense of justice,” then-coach Lincoln Phillips told The New York Times last year. “We felt that our approach in developing scholar-athletes always followed the spirit of the N.C.A.A. even when we were the targets of some unfair and sometimes hostile situations. Our graduation rate was among the highest in the nation, and the players we recruited were very good and serious students.”
Shortly after Gyau graduated, Howard returned to prominence again, reaching the 1988 championship and advancing to the quarterfinals in 1989. But in the 24 seasons since then, the Bison have appeared in just one NCAA tournament (1997).
Howard seeks a return to glory under Gyau and there’s good reason to believe it can happen. Considering its potential to draw international players with unrivaled love and passion, Howard should be a perennial contender in soccer. And Gyau’s ability to develop young players should be a draw for homegrown talent, too.
The 2014 season will represent a rebirth on two levels: The men’s team is joining the Sun Belt Conference, which is sponsoring men’s soccer for the first time since 1995.
“We’re extremely proud to be a member of the Sun Belt Conference in the sport of men’s soccer,” Howard athletic director Louis “Skip” Perkins said. “This gives our soccer program the opportunity to compete in a conference tournament and ultimately a chance to play in the NCAA tournament.”
Having a conference home is nice, but picking the right coach is crucial.
For a program in critical condition, Gyau appears to be a great resuscitator.
Making money quickly became second nature to Jahi Davis, when he started his first business as a 12-year-old. He trained for a year, borrowed funds from a cousin, bought some supplies and soon was pulling in $1,500 per week as a barber. “Money was not an issue,” he says.
But a near-fatal car accident changed his outlook on life as high school graduation neared. Davis was in critical condition for a month, suffering from a broken jaw, cracked back, collapsed lung and multiple cuts on his face. That brush with death caused him to re-evaluate his life’s trajectory. “It was like, ‘God kept me on this earth for something,’” he says.
He found his purpose in serving and giving back, through volunteer and non-profit organizations. Davis won a national service award – presented by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush – for his work with AmeriCorps in 1997. In 2010, a volunteer program he created for a nonprofit in D.C. became the national model for Operation Hope.
Now he’s turning his attention to another pressing need, assisting First Baptist Church of Glenarden in launching its Volunteer Ministry. Davis wasn’t looking for a leadership position when he responded to an announcement in the bulletin last summer. He just wanted an opportunity to “stop being a leech” and start giving back at his church.The new ministry was perfect.
“I was one of those people with a lot of different interests, but a work schedule that’s so combustible I really didn’t have time to give to the church in a meaningful way,” says Davis, who has 17 years of experience with nonprofits. “Short-term assignments sounded good to me, whatever was needed. I was really hoping to have various assignments throughout the year that I can jump in and jump out.”
Elder William Jones, who’s spearheading the ministry, had a different idea when he looked at Davis’ email. “I said, ‘This guy should be running this thing.’ That’s what he’s been doing. I feel like God sent him my way at the right time. Even when I started, I didn’t intend to be the head forever.”
Unlike FBCG’s other 100-plus ministries, the Volunteer Ministry was created to serve the church’s business operations staff. “It’s really put in place to help the people who work at First Baptist,” Elder Jones says. “It’s not about going out to nursing homes and things like that, but to assist those people who run things at the church. It keeps us from having to hire all the time.”
He says more than 80 members responded by year’s end. Many saw the ministry as a way to give of their skills and time and not be tied down with attending regular meetings, rehearsals, etc. Volunteers are entered into a database based on their skill sets. When a FBCG manager or department head has a need, the database is screened for possible matches. Assignments or specific and short-term, after which volunteers go back into the database.
Elder Jones said the Ministry Support department accounted for 20 percent of the referrals in December and Reverend Annie Darden, the department head, raved about the difference volunteers made. Elder Jones said such success stories will help encourage other departments that have been slower to utilize the Volunteer Ministry.
Another concern is the number of men who volunteer, only eight through December. Elder Jones believes Davis can help in that area.
“We always have more women volunteers then men, but men play a significant role,” Davis says. “You have to be strategic with men. In my former organization, once they got involved and we had specific roles for them, they were involved. We have to do the same thing at church.”
Davis believes he has found a home with the Volunteer Ministry and others can use it to “engage, get off the bench and really just give generously, whether in church or outside the church.
Just use the opportunity while you have it,” he says.
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By DERON SNYDER
